


i dreamed a dream

by StrangerInAStrangeLand



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Nightmare, accidental mind link, dreamscape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 04:10:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18275516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangerInAStrangeLand/pseuds/StrangerInAStrangeLand
Summary: Stephen has a nightmare in the middle of the night where he sees a rather...familiar face.





	i dreamed a dream

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was written for the Ironstrange Haven Gift Exchange! I wasn't able finish and publish it right on time, but better late than never, right?
> 
> This is based on a combination of two prompts from @meryan: "accidental mind link" and "they meet in the Avengers' kitchen late at night, both super exhausted."
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

During the shallow nights, Stephen would often find himself drifting through the tresses of his subconscious. His dreams weren't lucid, per se, but more like a sea of memories that he had no escape from.

The dreamverse -- as he described it -- was practically a mirror reality. It was an exact replica of the real world, but the timeline was completely misplaced. Some nights he would dream of an incident that occured years ago, other times he'd just be rewatching a recent battle.

It was like traveling through a whole new world contained in his head. Most nights were bearable, if not repetitive. But the worst nights were very specific nights. They weren't just traumatizing flashbacks from who-knows-when; for Stephen, the worst nights always involved a gigantic head of fire, an overwhelming ocean that threatened to engulf him whole, and a blistering headache that would remain for hours upon waking up.

This night was one of them.

"Dormammu -- I've come to bargain!" He muttered, his voice trailing off like an echo. 

He felt like he was right in the Dark Dimension. The atmosphere swirled in fiery waves, mixing with the disastrously high tides that swayed his body. Two nightmares in one. Truly a natural hellscape. 

The floating head roared with defiance. Stephen stood still, closing his eyes, bracing himself for another quick, short death. He knew it was all a memory, it wasn't real. But he still knew what it felt like. He could still recollect the feeling of spears skewing every single one of his organs, or being burned alive, or drowning, the worst one of them all.

He closed his eyes tight, ready to encounter the next death. But...he felt nothing. 

"Stephen!" 

Light rushed into his eyes, forcing them open. Stephen looked beyond the dimension and discovered...he wasn't alone.

He saw...He saw a man. That never happened before.

Facing Dormammu was a golden-clad man that shimmered like the sun. But his light wasn't threatening or demonic. It was comforting and warm, almost like a tender embrace.

Stephen felt his heart skip a beat at the sight. He was awestruck. He wanted to reach out to him, help him, call out to him, do anything. 

But it looked like he didn't need any help at all.

In an instant, the fires of the demon had been extinguished, now replaced with the shining silhouette. He walked with confidence as he held a wordless Stephen's hand.

"Are you okay, Stephen Strange?"

His voice was powerful, yet soothing. Stephen nodded, still awry about the stranger.

The stranger smirked once he noticed his dumbstruck expression.

"At a loss of words, I suppose?" He teased. He caressed Stephen's cheek and gazed into his eyes.

Stephen saw constellations in his irises. Just beautiful, vivid stars. 

It was...lovely. Amazing, even. But it wasn't right.

It wasn't right at all.

The make-believe world began to crumple before the doctor's eyes. The stranger's fingers dissolved into stardust within Stephen's palm. He panickedly staggered away from the figure, prompting a look of confusion from him.

"Hmm? What's wro--?" 

The ashes of the faded stranger floated through Stephen's mind before he could finish his question. But even then, Stephen could still see his radiant outline.

"Gah!" 

The sorcerer awoke with a gasp. He shot up from the couch, his blanket tumbling onto the floor, and grabbed his chest. The stab wound above his rib that was still healing flared up, meaning he now had to deal with physical pain on top of mental pain.

How great. 

It took a few moments for Stephen to properly assess his surroundings. In the heat of the dream, he'd almost forgotten that he was invited to crash on the Avengers' couch after spending 5 hours in their med-bay treating his wound after their last mission together. He appreciated the gesture at the moment, but now he realized that meant he was left with almost no magical relics besides the Eye, the Cloak, and his hands. Meaning he had no way of figuring out what, or rather, who he saw in his dream.

Once again, how great. 

That wasn't to say he didn't enjoy the stranger's presence. He certainly made what was usually a nightmare far more bearable. It was just so unnatural for a dream to spin gears like that all of a sudden.

He held his head, trying to make sense of everything, trying to make all the details fit into place. He needed to clear his mind, silence the beat of his heart, and just breathe. God, why was it so hard to breathe now?

Tea. He needed tea. That always helped him relax. 

Stephen got up from the couch and tried to remember where Steve said the kitchen was. Once he found it, he began to search the cabinets. He expected them to have at least some kind of tea.

What he didn't expect, however, was a similarly exhausted Tony Stark walking in the kitchen at the exact same time as him.

"Mornin', Doc."

Stephen jolted away from the cabinets, startled by the voice. When he turned around, he saw the rocket man himself dressed in plain pajamas with an apocalypse for a bedhead. 

Tony waved, arching an eyebrow when he didn't get a response. Swallowing his anxieties, Stephen said the first thing that came to his mind.

"It's 4 am."

Tony rolled his eyes, making his way to the other side of the kitchen where the coffee table resided. Did this man ever sleep?

"So? It's still morning," he replied. He shot a glance from the coffee machine that ended up lingering longer than he intended. He noticed the sorcerer...quaking. "What happened to you?" 

Stephen suddenly felt self-conscious about his disrupted state. He took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair to smooth it out, trying to calm himself. He looked at the ground and coughed out a response. 

"Nightmare." 

That was all it took for Tony to understand. He nodded in sympathy. 

"I know that feeling," he began, before stifling a chuckle. "Dreaming about a gigantic fire-breathing head is not exactly how I like to start the day. But that must be just another Tuesday for you, right?" 

The response hit him like a truck. He felt his heart stop. He looked up at Tony, but was at a loss for words when he was bombarded with a bright, dreamlike silhouette embodying him. Just like the one from the tresses of his mind.

The man that stood beside him and took his hand. The man that glowed with comfort and possessed galaxies in his eyes. 

He was looking at him right now.

"Stephen?" Tony asked, snap him out of this mystical state. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a--" 

"Tony, what did you dream about?" Stephen's voice was frantic, almost in a panic. "What did you see?" 

Tony didn't know what was wrong with him. He tried to recount his vision from Hell, hoping it would at least calm him down. 

"I just...I just saw a floating head on fire," he explained, trying to remember. "And a...a man floating above him. Frozen in place."

Both of their eyes widened. They examined each other simultaneously, mentally comparing the dream(s) and the reality. 

"And I didn't know why, but he kind of looked like you..."

The way Stephen looked at him with sudden realization clued him in in. Tony groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"Jeez...this is another magic thing, isn't it?" 

He didn't have to hear a response to know he was right. Stephen collapsed into the chair next to him, grasping his head as he tried to make sense of this. 

"I didn't see you in my dream, but I heard you. I heard you calling my name."

He didn't know if he was just tired or worn out or anything, but he couldn't think of a moment where something like this happened. He was far too tired to think about it right now. He just wanted to read, or meditate, or do anything besides dream up another hysterical memory.

A warm hand gently touched his arm, slowly setting it down on the table. When Stephen looked up, he saw Tony placing a hot mug of freshly brewed tea in front of him.

"You must be tired," He said with a sympathetic grin.

The aroma of ginger and lemon enchanted him. Stephen took the mug into his quivering hands and briefly took a sip of it. It didn't taste completely natural, but it did a good job at soothing his nerves. 

"You had a pretty rough day yesterday. I know you don't care for coffee, so I made you some tea."

'Thanks for thinking about me,' Stephen wanted to say. It wasn't even sarcastic, he always enjoyed a cup of tea in the midst of a mental breakdown. He took another swig of tea as Tony sighed.

"This really wasn't how I expected to start my day."

"The feeling is mutual." 

Tony watched as he finished his tea and tenderly stroked his hand. The sorcerer flinched, almost surprised at the sudden act of intimacy, even if was between a man he already knew. He felt him massage his hand with his thumb as he looked into his eyes. 

"Maybe we can spend some time talking to each other."

Stephen stared at his mug, still nerved up. He didn't know how to face whatever this dream bullshit was, but he also didn't think he needed to know right now.

He just needed something, anything. Anything to stay awake.

Well, what better person to spend the night with than the man that somehow saved him from another nightmare?

He intertwined their fingers and smiled for the first time since he woke up.

"I'd love that."  


End file.
